Drakes Get It Done

If the first episode of House of the Dragon centred on Daemon, the second, "The Rogue Prince", sets out to establish Rhaenyra as the other lead. She doesn't quite hit the ground running as well as Daemon did but she's not bad.

I'm enjoying Milly Alcock's performance and it's a shame she's set to be replaced by another actress when events jump forward in time later in the season. Alcock is 22 years old, it seems silly to replace her with a 30 year old actress. Also, I see Alcock was born on April 11, which also happens to be my birthday. So clearly the stars are on her side.

A lot of her drama so far revolves around the unprecedented circumstance of a female heir to the Iron Throne. I wish the show did a better job of establishing how this sexism manifests in the minds of the people of Westeros and what are some of the root causes of it. It makes it difficult to drum up meaningful drama about glass ceilings, so far it's being treated merely as a matter of Rhaenyra needing to prove herself. If women can't sit on the Iron Throne, it seems obvious for a woman who wants to do so to ask, "Why not?"

If we were to look at the real Middle Ages, say in the 1400s, which seems roughly the analogous time period to House of the Dragon, there was a history of a few reigning queens to point to as examples. Eleanor of Aquitaine, Blanche of Castile, Margaret of Anjou. These were all regents who served as rulers while their husbands were indisposed or absent for extended periods. Maybe the ruler of Westeros would be more comparable to a Caesar but even then you could talk about Cleopatra. Does Rhaenyra really have no frame of reference? Are there no widow countesses or duchesses she could look to as prototypes?

Last week's episode incidentally illustrated one of the prime arguments against a woman ruler--women had a high chance of dying in childbirth. A king could continue marrying long after one unsuccessful childbirth. A queen, like Daemon's prospective bride or like Elizabeth I, could abstain from bearing a child but then that raises the obvious problem of succession. And it was a problem when Elizabeth I died, resulting in her cousin, James, already King of Scotland, becoming England's monarch. It seems like these are all matters the king's council on House of the Dragon should be bringing up.

At least the show continues to be lovely. It's so nice to have this weekly eye candy again.

House of the Dragon is available on HBOMax.

Twitter Sonnet #1616

The standing cat awaits attending serfs.
Important leeks were soon digested whole.
The boat's a bowl of lentil soup at berth.
The angry calf denounced the phony foal.
A waving tie salutes the action scene.
Constructing masks results in taking deals.
Remember now the fated Coffee Bean.
Exchange the buzz and scrap the dicey meals.
A rubber cross was sprinkled thick with glass.
A spider day accosts the smelly brute.
Elusive cakes bedevilled Fabienne's ass.
No burger breakfast stained the shepherd's suit.
The changing coat enabled lords to dive.
Beneath the sea do scaly devils thrive.